Microsoft (MSFT.O) is collaborating with the French government to create a digital twin of Paris' iconic Notre-Dame Cathedral, the country's most visited landmark, the company's president Brad Smith announced on Monday.

The 862-year-old Gothic cathedral, which reopened in December following five years of restoration after a major fire in 2019, will now be digitally replicated to preserve its architectural details and offer an immersive virtual experience for remote visitors, Microsoft said.

Notre-Dame, immortalised in Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, has become a symbol of French heritage, with its hunchbacked bell-ringer Quasimodo featured in films, musicals, and animated adaptations.

Microsoft previously partnered with French heritage digitalisation firm Iconem to create a digital version of St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. Reflecting on that experience, Smith told Reuters, “We learned that a digital twin helps with long-term maintenance by capturing a precise record of every centimetre of a structure.”

He added, “Creating a digital twin today will provide a priceless record that I believe will still be in use a century from now.”

Since 2019, Microsoft has undertaken similar digital preservation projects, including Ancient Olympia in Greece, Mont Saint-Michel in France, and commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy.

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